forest glen,(inspired by grizz)

**mountainhanger** · 04-09-2012, 18:47

trail was beautiful, weather was 60's and green was a bloomin everywhere! hike was strenous for a beginner, probably for experienced would rate moderate to strenous? 11 miles restricted camping at 3.5 and 7.5 miles.. staff was polite and helpful..really couldnt ask for much more to get you going.. some really great ravines and view of the Vermillion River
Forest Glen Preserve in Vermillion county Illinois

**jbrianb** · 04-09-2012, 18:49

Beautiful pics. Looks like a great hike. Thanks for sharing!

**GrizzlyAdams** · 04-09-2012, 22:30

glad you liked it. Did you camp at either of the back-country sites? Only down-side is no potable water.

**Oms** · 04-13-2012, 12:46

No potable water! I filtered from the creek at the bottom of the second campsites. Am I going to die?

Glad you had a good time. Its the best packing i have found close to Chicago. Nice weekend loop at a leasure hike or overnighter. Just have to get registered early or they sort of frown on it. Cant see why I have never seen anyone else spend the night when i was there.

**GrizzlyAdams** · 04-13-2012, 22:21

Originally Posted by Oms

No potable water! I filtered from the creek at the bottom of the second campsites. Am I going to die?

Glad you had a good time. Its the best packing i have found close to Chicago. Nice weekend loop at a leasure hike or overnighter. Just have to get registered early or they sort of frown on it. Cant see why I have never seen anyone else spend the night when i was there.

Hi Oms! I am lucky to be just a 45 minute drive from the place.
On the water, yes there are streams through there and one just down from Group Camp...but all those fields around the Preserve...loaded with chemical fertilizer...runoff possibilities...no, I'll take my water from a well there, thank you!

**mountainhanger** · 04-14-2012, 00:07

Hi grizz sorry for the delay, I did camp at the east camp. did the 7.5 first day and stayed up on the ridge.. first backpacking trip actually.. got my water from the stream down below the ridge, filtered with katadyn pro hiker, and boiled.. i seemed to be real thirsty lol once again thanks!
just finished watching your primer series on suspension..

**Eric Labanauskas** · 05-15-2014, 22:06

Hey, Grizz!

Was out there late last November (same day we got all those crazy darn tornadoes).

Wrote up a little ditty with some pictures from my time there:

http://www.trailspace.com/forums/tri...cs/153349.html

Crazy as it is to say, it's my favorite place to hike if I can't get as far down to a place like Shawnee. It's actually nice to hike someplace where the trail isn't blatantly obvious 100% of the hike. Come the falling of the leaves, it takes some clever spotting to find those little red blazes.

Staff's super nice and made an effort to make sure me and my hiking buddy got to our campsite (even after hours), and the tent campground's really cool when no one's around - SO many trees to hang from, and the deer run right through it. Was a neat trip down there!

**GrizzlyAdams** · 05-16-2014, 00:00

gets even more challenging if you go counter-clockwise....harder still to see the red blazes because they are uni-directional! That and the trail covered with leaves...we wandered off a couple of times.

It's certainly my favorite place to hike in Illinois that is 45 minutes from my house

The main ranger there is a really nice guy. After our experience of taking the scenic route, one of my sons who was looking for a BSA Eagle project thought that perhaps re-marking the trail would be a good idea. So we talked to the ranger, who told us that was already on their to-do list, but he had some ideas about a project. Son ended up organizing an effort to build stairs up one of those steep bluffs. The FG folks supplied all the materials and tools, and even delivered them to the site. That was a relief because as he was making the suggestion to put in stairs _here_ I'm thinking "It's at least 2 miles from a road, and these scouts are going to be hauling in railroad ties????"

I like the photos on your blog. I need to get back over there soon while the getting is good.

**markglist** · 05-16-2014, 04:51

thats on my short list to do this year thanks for the trip review.

**Eric Labanauskas** · 05-16-2014, 22:26

Ha!

Yep. "Uni-directional" is about the best way to put it. Although I've got to admit, I liked the challenge of hiking it without tree cover and with leaves covering the beaten path.

You had me scared, Grizz - thought you were gonna say your son was the kid who put the blazes up...because there are times you don't need one (and have two ten feet from another) and times you could use them, and nary a one's to be found. Heck, I wouldn't mind it if they sent a hiker out there with some trail tape. Can of spraypaint. Bread crumbs. Anything, really.

Suffice it to say, I think your son did a lot of a folks a solid putting those steps in - those ravines can be a doozy.

And thanks for giving the trip report a read, dudes! Much appreciate it.